Mass Effect: Iridescent the full story
by Terminal lance
Summary: Jack Shepherd, the rough around-the-edges hero of the galaxy must know face the final battle for the fate of all life, the reapers are here and must be stopped however possible. This may or may not become M, depends on if you, the readers, wnat it to be


**So, I was thinking about continuing my ending using my own idea for Shepherd. I thought that why not do my own story of Mass Effect 3, so that is what I am doing now. I want to do this instead of an ending continuation because I had a few plot ideas, wanted to tell the story of Jack "Wolf" Shepherd. Also I wanted to make the relationship between Liara and Jack more concrete, so in this story they are fully together from the start. The new plot ideas I had are unique and I hope you will like them but you wont see them till latter. Once again this is my story about MY SHEPHERD, though it will follow the majority of ME3s plot, there will be some adding of my own ideas, and a none total bullshit waste of an ending. By the way this is longest single chapter I will have ever published on Fan Fiction and props to who ever gets the reference in the very first part of the chapter. To those who read and reviewed ME: iridescent, know i have chosen to go this route instead. I thank you for reading and reviewing it and hope you will do the same for this story.**

Earth, the pale blue dot, it is a beautiful planet and to humanity it was home, the place of their beginning and for many it's their home. Its many cities sprawled out across its land masses, people went about their days peacefully, enjoying life living ignorant to the greatest threat to life the galaxy would ever know. The only man who knew the truth before anyone else was currently walking from the adjoining bathroom, toweling his hair off as he did. He wore a pair of alliance military fatigue pants, his dog tags hung around his neck over his slightly tanned skin. His hair was cut in the standard military high and tight still cut, his face was graced by five o'clock shadow and his bright blue eyes served his room. He could see his reflection in a mirror, he examined his left arm. The arm had only recently been graced by the return of an old memory, plus a combination of alcohol and anger at his most recent employers, the alliance military. His drunken and anger state had resulted in the tribal full sleeve black tattoo that now covered his arm and the left side of his chest. The part on his chest was a large open circle that had a tribal designed wolf in it. Jack shepherd smiled as he examined it, he had to get the ink removed before he joined to alliance and when he was brought back by Cerberus the scars from the surgery where gone. The wolf had been a symbol for him from the first years of his life on a colony where a old man in the village that was friends with his family had called him "little Wolf", the nickname stuck becoming just "Wolf" in high school as the little part did not apply anymore to him as he stood at six three and weighed two-hundred and thirty pounds of solid muscle.

Jack shepherd had left colony life to live with his military parents as a spacer, ever since he was ten he had lived on ships and space stations making his high school education hard, but he had managed to excel. At twenty he enlisted in the Alliance to be a marine, and from there his story had become somewhat of an Alliance legend. Jack Shepherd, the lone survivor of Akuze, N7 spec ops trained first human specter (to many an old Co's surprise as his discipline record was extensive as his service record), hero of the battle of the citadel, and a man who was brought back from the dead. To the commander none of these things mattered, he could care less about awards, medals, and the rest of the other ridiculous titles that had been thrust upon him, to him only one mattered, Jack shepherd, lover of Liara T'Soni. He sighed as he picked up the picture of his blue Asari lover, he could see her face. Her beautiful blue skin, the cute freckles that were dotted on her face, her gorgeous smile and her stunning blue eyes greeted him. The picture was only a few weeks old as she had given it to him before she had to go out do what she could to help prepare for the reapers as he had to sit at alliance HQ, essentially imprisoned for the killing of three hundred thousand batarians. They had died when he destroyed the alpha relay and prevented the reapers from using it to enter the galaxy. He knew it would only delay them but every second until they arrived was a second that they had to prepare. Jack placed the picture back on the bed side table and looked out the window, a young boy ran around in the small area of grass along a walkway. He laughed as he ran around, holding a toy fighter in the air as he did. Jack smiled; he took a little happiness from the scene of youthful innocence. In his mind eye he could see a young asari girl doing the same thing as he and Liara sat on the bench watching her run around.

The sound of a door opening drew him from the scene; Jack pulled the shirt in his hand over his head as a man walked in to the room. He turned to face the marine as he snapped to a salute.

"Commander" James Vega said as he stood at attention.

"You don't have to call me that anymore James" Jack said as he walked over to James. James looked at Jack's arm.

"Nice ink sir" James said as he held his hand out. Jack took his hand and gave it a shake before following him from his room.

"Thanks James, I figured that being relived of duty gave me a reason to get it again" Jack said "that or anger and alcohol don't mix well"

"No sir, I don't suppose they do" James said as they walked from the room "We gotta go. Defense committee wants to see you"

"Sounds important" Jack said as the walked through the hall.

"What's going on?" Jack asked as he jogged up to walk next to James.

"Couldn't say just told me that they need you…now" James said as the walked quickly, people jumped out of their way.

Shepherd saw a tall dark skinned man walking towards them in dress blues.

"Anderson" Jack greeted holding out his hand which Anderson took and gave a quick shake as James snapped a salute "Admiral"

"You look good Jack" Anderson said as they started walking again "A little soft around the edges and out of regs. How you holding up since being relived of duty?"

"Well, it's not so bad once you get use to hot food and soft beds" Jack said as they rounded a corner "but you should have seen the ink coming back"

"Your right" Anderson said "don't worry we will get it sorted out"

"What's going on? Why is everyone in a hurry?" Jack asked looking at Anderson.

"Admiral Hackett is mobilizing the fleet" Anderson began "Im guessing word's made it to alliance command, something big is headed our way"

The two stopped at the base of a stair case, Jack looked up at him an eyebrow raised.

"The reapers?" Jack asked as Anderson turned around and looked back at him.

"We don't know, not for certain at least" Anderson said.

"What the fuck else could it be?" Jack said. His bad mouth had been slowly returning to his everyday vocabulary, something that made many officers look down on him.

"If I knew that" Anderson said but Jack interrupted him.

"It's the damn reapers. We are not ready, not by a long shot" Jack said with an angry growl.

"Tell that to defense committee" Anderson said as they started to walk again.

"Unless we plan to talk the reapers to death then the committee is a waste of our fucking time" Jack said, he normally would not swear this much but he hated politicians and diplomats with as much hatred as he had for reapers.

"They are just scared" Anderson said as they headed into a hallway along the edge of the building. Jack could see ships taking flight outside, the cloudy sky cast a shadow over everything.

"None of them have seen what you have" Anderson said "We have all seen the reports you filed, the data you have collected but its only theory to us. You have been there, in the trenches, fighting them. You know what they are capable of"

Jack stopped and crossed his arms as he glared at his friend; he was slowly becoming angrier with the entire situation.

"Is that why they grounded me? Took away my ship? Won't let me see my friends or even let my Liara see me?" Jack said harshly.

"You know that's not true" Anderson said "all the shit you have pulled it is a miracle that you are even still in the alliance. Any other solider would have been, tried, court-martial and discharged. It's your knowledge of the reapers that kept that from happening"

"That and your good word?" Jack said getting in his face a little.

"Yeah, a trust you Jack" Anderson said glaring slightly back at him "and so does the committee"

"Yeah, well fuck them" Jack said "im a soldier, im know politician"

"I don't need you to be either. I just need you to do whatever the hell it takes to help us stop the reapers"

The group entered a security checkpoint, the door slid open and a woman at the desk looked up and saw them enter.

"They're expecting you to admiral" the officer said as she stepped in front of them and lead them towards the counsel chamber. They rounded a corner and walked down the hall, James stopped.

"Good luck in there shepherd" James said holding out his hand. Jack took it and gave it a shake. Admiral Anderson walked farther ahead towards women in a modified blue uniform. Jack didn't notice as his shock James hand.

"Thanks James" Jack said but a voice from behind him drew his attention, a voice he had not heard since horizon.

"Wolf?" Jacks head snapped around, there are only a handful of people that know that nickname from him. One of them stood looking at him a look of shock on her face, het dark brown hair flowed over shoulders and her brown eyes sparkled as she smiled at him.

"Ash?" Jack said but before they could talk Anderson interjected.

"How did it go in there Lieutenant-commander?"

"I can never tell. I am just waiting for orders now" Ashley Williams said. The officer that had been leading the walked over to them, she stood a parade rest.

"Admiral" Anderson nodded and followed her.

"Come on" he said to Jack who followed him as they walked towards the committee chamber. As jack walked by Ashley she smiled nodding but one of her eyebrows raised as she saw the ink on his left arm.

"Wolf? You know the commander that well?" James asked her. She looked back at him with a slightly depressed look on her face before looking back at her old CO and good friend.

"I used to" Ashley said.

Shepherd and Anderson walked into the council chamber, the councilors sat behind a large desk at the end of the room that had a massive window that looked out at the city that sprawled out behind them. Jack could tell at only a glance that they were very worried about what was going on.

"Anderson, Shepherd" one of the men said in greeting, the fear made his voice weaver slightly as he did.

"What is the situation?" Jack asked them as he stood a parade rest. The councilor sighed as he looked at him.

"We were hoping that you could tell us" The councilor said. A man handed Jack a data pad which he took and quickly glanced over it.

"The reports coming in are unlike anything we have ever seen" A female councilor said worriedly "whole colonies have gone dark, we have lost contact with anything beyond the sol relay"

"Whatever this is, it is incomprehensibly powerful"

"You brought me here to confirm what you already know" Jack said looking up at them "the reapers are here"

The room went quite, people started to listen more intently. The council looked taken aback, Anderson sighed as he muttered under his breath "that's what I feared".

"Then, how do we stop them?"

"Stop them? This is not about strategy or tactics. This is about survival" Jack said stepping forward towards the frightened councilors "the reapers are more advanced then we are. More powerful, more intelligent. They don't fear us and they will never pity us"

"But there must be some way?" the women councilor asked desperately.

"Each of us has to be willing to die, anything less and they have already won" Jack said as he paced in front of them.

"That's it? That is our plan?" another one of the councilors said angrily. A beep from a console nearby drew Anderson's attention.

"Admiral, we have lost contact with Luna base" an officer said.

"The moon, they couldn't be that close already" Anderson said as he looked back at Shepherd.

"How did they get past our defenses?" a councilor wondered aloud.

"Sir, UK Headquarters has a visual" the officer said as she brought it up on screen. An alliance marine was yelling at the monitor but they couldn't hear him but shepherd heard the sound that haunted his dreams in the background. The screen went black and a signal lost notification popped up in the screen. The screen was filled with news footage that showed a reaper in the city, more were landing nearby. London was burning; Jack felt his anger boil at what he was seeing. News images continued to flash as everyone in the room stared on in horror. Anderson was the first one to break the silence, he leaned back looking at Jack.

"Why haven't we heard from admiral Hackett?" Anderson asked. Jack was still too stunned to say anything but a councilor asked the question on everyone's mind.

"What do we do?"

Jacks face hardened as he turned and walked towards the council. He pointed at the screen as he did.

"The only thing we can do, we fight or we die!" Jack yelled at them. Anderson walked up next to him, Jack glanced back at him.

"We should get to the Normandy" Anderson began but a reverberating rumble stopped him, the room went dead quite. Everyone watched out the window as a reaper descend upon the city, its beam weapon annihilating a swath of the city.

"Oh my god" the women councilor said. Jack watched as a beam headed for their building, he could barley be heard above the noise.

"Move!" Jack said running for the door at the back of the room. The massive beam connected with the room and the desk went flying over Jacks head as he dove to the ground. He quickly stood back up facing the reaper but the shockwave sent him flying back into a wall, he grunted as he hit the ground. His vision went hazy and everything sounded muffled. He lay on the ground shacking his head; he could barely hear Anderson yelling at him. Jack sat up and looked around, the room was burning, bodies littered it but thankfully he was unharmed and so was Anderson.

"Shepherd!" Anderson yelled as he ran over to him. He held out his hand and held Jack to his feet.

"Come on, get up" Anderson said as he helped him up. He quickly patted him on the shoulder and handed him an M-3 predator pistol.

"Here take this" Anderson said as he started to run for the broken window at the edge of the atrium "we got to get moving"

The two jogged through the carnage of the room, the entire committee lay dead on the floor.

"This is Admiral Anderson. Report in. Anyone?" Anderson said as shepherd checked one of the bodies in the room to see if the man was still alive "Lieutenant commander Williams is that you? What is your status?"

The two walked over to the window, Jack looked out at the carnage below them.

"I can't raise the Normandy; you will have to contact them. we'll meet you at the landing zone, Anderson out" the two soldiers glanced at each other before hopping down to a ledge and started to run down it towards the landing zone. Anderson lead as Jack followed.

"They are massive" Anderson exclaimed "come on Jack, Ashley is headed for the Normandy. They will pick us up if we can get to the spaceport"

"Right behind Anderson" Jack said as he ran behind the admiral. The two stopped as a laser began to cut past them.

"Watch out!" Anderson yelled as Jack shielded his eyes from the light. Once the laser passed the started to move again, faster now.

"How do you stop something so powerful?" Anderson asked as they ran.

"A really big fucking gun!" Jack yelled back as they sprinted. A gap had appeared thanks to the laser, Jack and Anderson leaped over it and then dropped down to another ledge and headed towards a structure that was connected to the on that they were running on by the ledge. Anderson quickly scurried up the ladder and up to the roof of the building, Jack leapt up the ladder and the two ran across the roof. They jumped up onto a structure support and then down the other side heading down a slope towards a thin part of the building that connected to a larger side.

"Lieutenant commander, can you hear me? Im patching in Shepherd" Anderson said as they ran.

"We are almost to the Normandy. I have got Lieutenant Vega with me but we are taking heavy fire" Ashley said in the comm. piece that rested in Shepherd ear.

"We are about five minutes out" Anderson said as he vaulted over an air duct. Jack saw husks climbing up the building towards the roof. He quickly leveled his pistol and fired, his skill with weapon made him a legendary solider. Not one of the abominations made it to the roof.

"Nice shooting" Anderson said as he slide down a ladder. Jack grabbed the ladder and slide down it kicking off the wall and followed Anderson at a run as they headed towards a patio that was off an office. Jack saw more husks climb on to the roof, he went to fire but the pistol was empty.

"Looks like we have to take them out the old fashioned way" Anderson said. Jack smiled; he loved hand to hand combat. He had been a boxer, kick boxer, wrestler and even did some other martial arts trough out high school. A husk ran at him but it had no idea who had had encountered. Jacks leg shoot out in a round house kick that landed squarely on the husks temple sending it flying to the side. Another one of the things tried to grab him but he ducked its arm and kneed it in the gut. He twisted around grabbing its arm, smashing his elbow in to it. The husk moaned as its arm snapped like a twig, Jack threw it. He turned to face another husk as it jumped at him, Jack side stepped it. The thing landed sprawled out on the ground in front of him. He brought his foot up and smashed its head in. Anderson looked at Jack but his gaze snapped to a reaper beam as it collided with the building. Jack dove to the side rolling as he did and quickly got back up to his feet. Anderson scrambled to his feet as well and they made for the doorway, the door no longer existed.

"Grab some ammo" Jack said as he picked up a thermal clip and slotted it into the pistol. He walked over to the door in the back right of the room and hit the open button. The door malfunctioned and stopped halfway open and a husk tried to grab him trough the gap. Jack yelled as he activated his Omni-blade and rammed it home into the husks head. The blade shattered as he did and the creature body tore open, black fluid spurted out all over jack's right arm. The door went to close but Shepherd grabbed to and forced it open slightly.

"Through this way" He told Anderson who walked under his arms. A noise in the vent drew Jack's attention and he walked over to the vent to the same young boy from earlier in the vent hiding.

"Hey" Jack said as he knelt down near the vent looking at the boy "its okay"

The kids back up more into the vent, shaking his head.

"Everyone's dying" the child said in a very scared tone. A loud boom resounded and jack looked back to see a reapers leg move off in the distance. He looked back at the kid and held out his hand.

"Come on, I need to get you somewhere safe" Jack said concerned "take my hand"

"You can't help me" the kid said Jack was about to say something but Anderson walked over.

"Jack, in here"

Jack looked back to see the kid gone, he stood up and followed Anderson in to the room. The place was a wreak.

"This is a goddamn mess" Anderson said as he tried moving some debris "every minute these machines are here, thousands of innocent people die. I won't be responsible"

"We are not responsible for the ones that die Anderson, there is no helping the dead" Jack said as he ducked under a rebar and followed Anderson "we are responsible for those still breathing"

"Yeah, sad we have to look at it that way" Anderson said as he stood up. Jack stood up behind him as they moved another piece of rubble "they hit so fast, I thought we had more time"

Jack held up a beam as the admiral ducked under it.

"We knew they were coming" Shepherd said.

"And they still just cut through our defenses" Anderson said as he looked under some more debris for away through "we need to go to the citadel, talk to the council"

"The citadel? The fights not on the fucking citadel, its here" Shepherd said as he looked down at Anderson.

"It will be everywhere soon enough, you said it yourself" Anderson began as he started moving again "the reapers will destroy everything if we don't stop them"

The two slid by some debris and got close to a drop in the floor.

"The council has to help us" Anderson grunted. Jack stepped in front of him and looked down in to the black hole.

"You sure about that?" Shepherd said as they carefully shimmed along the ledge.

"No but you were a council specter, that's got to count for something" Anderson said. The sound of a laser broke their conversation and a tremor almost sent Jack into the abyss but Anderson grabbed his belt and pulled him back up.

"Thanks I owe you one" Shepherd said as they reached am atrium, he could see the spaceport to his left.

"More than one, come one lets move" Anderson said as they took off at a sprint towards the port. They dropped to a ledge that doubled as a place for plants to grow. They sprinted off down a slope and towards the roof of another level of the building.

"Lieutenant commander Williams, we are in sight of the space port" Anderson said as the two men leapt over an air duct "Eta three minutes!"

"We've made it to the Normandy, we are taking heavy fire" Ashley said before exclaiming "Oh god!" Jack ran up to Anderson, he could see the legs of a reaper only a few hundred yards away as the massive machine walked in the lake. They reached a lose piece of metal that they could run across to get to the space port.

"They are going to take down that dreadnaught, evasive maneuvers!" Jack looked up to see the massive alliance war vessel erupt in a ball of fire, the shockwave threw his against the wall and the metal slab fell. Jack and Anderson slide down a slope and ended up in at the waters edge on the docks. Jack rolled as he landed and looked up to see the massive reaper. The two took off across a small bridge made of debris still headed towards the spaceport.

"Normandy we are going to reroute!" Anderson yelled "do you copy?"

They only heard static as they walked over to a ledge.

"Normandy come in" Anderson said as he dropped off the ledge to a platform below him. They could see two soldiers crouched down by a pile of wreckage, the two men ran over to them.

"You two alright?" Jack asked as he scanned the area for any sort of hostiles.

"Get down they'll see you" one of the marines said quietly. Jack looked up and saw something moving on the other side of the water. They were on another platform, he could see them moving. Jack ran to some cover as the hulking beasts saw him; the mutated batarians leveled some sort of weapon at him. Jack quickly aimed his pistol, adrenaline coursed through his veins and he could feel everything slow down as he aimed the weapon. He squeezed off eight rounds and the four hulking beasts dropped as two rounds impacted each of their heads. Anderson looked at him with a raised eyebrow before they returned their attention to the two marines.

"Shepherd over here" Anderson said. Jack kneeled down next to them as Anderson looked at the injured marine.

"What happened here?" Anderson asked them.

"Our gunship was shoot down" the still health man said as he looked over at the admiral "we barley made it"

"You have a radio? We are trying to contact our ship" Anderson asked them as Jack kept watch.

"No, there's one in gunship but it's gonna be crawling with those things" the marine said. Anderson and Jack stood up and started towards the downed gunship.

"Stay here, son. We'll get you out of here" Anderson said. The two men lift the bit of rubble of the injured marine's leg, his comrade drug him out from it. The chunk of rubble fell into the water creating a bridge between the two platforms. The two officers ran across and then around the rubble to the other side. More of the cannibals were on there other side; shepherd quickly took cover behind an air duct. Jack ducked as Anderson fired rounds at the reapers ground troops. Jack popped out of cover and fired rounds into the husks. The two soldiers quickly dropped the hostiles and ran over to the downed gunship. An avenger rifle lay nearby and Jack picked it up as Anderson knelt down and fired up the radio.

"Normandy, this is Anderson, do you read?"

"Admiral, what's your location?" Ashley asked over the radio.

"By a downed gunship in the harbor, im activating the distress beacon" Anderson said "Send support, we got wounded down here" A fighter whipped overhead as Jack watched for any sign of hostiles. The radio started to crackle and then the signal was lost, Anderson swore loudly. Jack looked back in the direction they had come from, husks were running at them, rounds started to fly by his head.

"Anderson! We got company!" Jack yelled as he dove into cover and started to fire back at the cannibals. Anderson got in cover next to him and started to fire his pistol as well. The two soldiers did everything they could to drop as many of the hostiles as they could but they kept coming.

"Hope they get here soon!" Anderson yelled as he dropped a cannibal.

"You and me both!" Jack said as he emptied the rest of the magazine into a group of husks. More and more of the reaper ground troops kept coming, Jacks rifle clicked empty and he tossed it on his back and grabbed his pistol.

"Im running out of ammo!" Anderson yelled as he fired off three shoots. Jack kept firing round after round but the enemy just kept coming. The pistol clicked empty, jack was not completely out of ammo for both weapons.

"Fuck!" Jack yelled as he whipped the pistol ten yards drilling a husk in the head. He dove behind cover as rounds flew overhead but a voice on the radio broke through.

"Calvary is here gentlemen!" Joker said as the Normandy soared over the enemies, missiles flew out and the reaper ground troops were decimated. Jack and Anderson stood up and looked as the Normandy circled back around; Jack smiled as he looked at his ship.

"About time" Anderson said as the Normandy started to come around to a ramp. Jack took off at a run, yelling at Anderson to move. Jack sprinted towards the ship, he slide over a low bit of cover. He sprinted up the ramp as the Normandy's ramp lowered and Jack jumped on to the Normandy. Ashley was there with James providing cover fire as they ran up the ramp and into the Normandy. When jack stepped in Ashley greeted him with a quick "commander". Shepherd turned around and saw Anderson stop at the top of the ramp.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked him over the roar of the engines.

"Look around you Jack, the people will need a leader" Anderson said as he stepped back "Im staying"

"If you stay, we are to!" Jack yelled back angrily.

"Go, get everyone you can!" Anderson yelled back "that's an order!"

"I don't take orders from you anymore!" Jack shouted. Anderson pulled something from his pocket and threw it at Shepherd who snatched his dog tags out of the air.

"Consider yourself reinstated!" Anderson said as he walked towards a shuttle but Jacks voice stopped him.

"Admiral, good luck" Jack said. Anderson nodded to Jack and stepped on the shuttle as the Normandy backed up. Shepherd looked as a few shuttles were waiting to take off, he watched the young boy walk onto one of the shuttles. The shuttles started to take of but the reaper destroyer behind them fired its main weapon, both shuttles exploded. Jack could have sworn that he heard the child scream. The Normandy's hanger door closed and the ship rocketed off for the sky. The small vessel ripped through the debris field and off into the blackness as earth burned.

Jack walked back to the armory that was in the back of the shuttle bay, James was right behind him.

"What the hell's going on? Where is Anderson?" James asked quickly as they walked to the armory. James stopped and yelled after shepherd.

"Hey!"

"We're leaving" Jack said as he walked over to a consol bank. James looked shocked for a second but then stalked over to Jack angrily.

"Leaving?" James yelled indignity.

"What's going on?" Ashley asked as she walked over to shepherd and James.

"Anderson wants us to go to the citadel, get help for the fight" Jack said glancing back at Ashley then back to the consol.

"Bullshit" James barked "he wouldn't order us to leave"

Jack faced James and sighed, he didn't want to leave earth in its darkest hour but they had no choice and Shepherd knew.

"We don't have a choice" Jack said sadly "with out help this war's already over"

"Forget it drop me off some where" James said throwing his arms. Jack poked him in the chest angrily.

"Enough, you think I like fucking running from this fight?" Jack said as he looked back at James who was just glaring at him "We are going to the citadel, you want out James then you can get a ride from there"

James turned around pushing Jack way as he did and stalked off somewhere. Jack turned back to the consol; he punched in more data as Joker came over the loud speaker.

"Commander?"

"Joker?" Jack asked happily "that you?"

"Alive and kicking, got any emergency transmission from Admiral Hackett for you" Joker said.

"Patch it through" Jack said the transmission appeared on the consoles screen. It was a little shaky at first due to interference.

"Shepherd" Hackett said but the transmission cut out a little "Sustained heavy losses. Force was overwhelming, there's no way we can beat them conventionally"

"Andersons already ordered me to the citadel, get council support" Jack replied.

"First I need you, alliance outpost on mars, or we lose control of the system" Hackett said.

"Yes sir" Jack said as he snapped a quick salute.

"Been researching the prothean archives with Dr. T'Soni" Hackett said. "Found a way to stop the reapers, only way to stop them, in contact soon Hackett out"

_Liara is on mars, _Jacks eyes lit up as heard this he quickly hit the key to talk to Joker.

"Joker set a course far mars archives, real fucking ricky tick!" Jack said as he walked over to the table that held his armor.

"Mars? Roger that" Joker said over the speaker.

"This is Loco" James said. Ashley crossed her arms as she looked at Jack.

"Why mars? What does he think we will find there?" Ashley said "or you just going to find Liara?"

"I don't know what we will find, but if that's where Liara is" Jack said as he grabbed a N7 assault rifle and loaded it "then that's were I am going"

Jack picked up his armor; he looked at the N7 patch on his chest piece.

"Grab your gear, get prepped" Jack said as he started to put his armor on. Ashley and James did the same off a little ways, the talked quietly between them as Jack suited up.

"This is loco, he just wants go find his girl" James said "while earth burns"

"Yeah, maybe" Ashley said "I don't know anymore, all I know is that if some one hurt her there than god help who ever did"

"Why?" James asked as he locked his arm sections in place.

"Well, when we went on a mission before he" Ashley looked for the right word for a second "Left, one of the batarians hit Liara when her shields were down with a bullet"

"And?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He tackled the batarian" Ashley said as she placed her rifle on her back and picked up her helmet "he beat the mans skull in with his bare hands"

The Normandy dropped out of FTL and gracefully soared towards the red planet, the sleek ship seemed to dance as it moved. The Normandy slowed down as it entered the planets orbit and opened the hanger door. James fired the shuttles engines up and they slowly left the hanger, the small craft flying as gracefully as it could out of the hanger and towards the planet. Jack walked up to James and placed a hand on a grab bar over the pilot's seat.

"I have been trying to raise Mars on secure channels, no one is answering" Joker said. Jack let out a feral growl under his breath at the thought that Liara might be hurt.

"Any sign of reaper activity?" Jack asked Joker.

"Negative" Joker snapped quickly.

"EDI?" Jack inquired of the AI.

"The base appears operational, it's possible the inhabitants were evacuated" EDI said in her usual voice.

"We will know soon enough, Joker keep your ass ready to get us out of here"

"Always do commander" Joker responded As Jack walked back in to the holding area of the shuttle. Ashley looked up at him as he did, her face spoke volumes. He could tell that there was still doubt behind her eyes as she looked up at him. Jack pulled his helmet on and waited at the hatch as the shuttle soared down towards the base.

"We are almost there" James said as he maneuvered the craft towards a suitable Landing zone. James set the shuttle down as gently as he could on a plateau near the base.

"Still no contact from the base, but we got a huge storm headed our way" James said as he stood up from the pilot seat and meet the two in the back of the shuttle.

"How long till it hits?" Jack asked looking at James as he pulled his helmet of his N7 defender armor on.

"Half our tops" James said as he unslung his revenant LMG from his back "after that, we are going to have difficulty keeping comms with the Normandy"

The door opened in front of Jack and he stepped out on to the red dust of the Martian soil. The base stood before them, its main section surrounding a crater that had the archives building in the center.

"Understood, lets move" Jack said as he shouldered his N7 rifle and started to lead them towards the base a brisk jog.

"Damn that's a big storm, looks a lot bigger in person" James said as they jogged.

"come on Lieutenant, its not that bad" Ashley replied.

"Doesn't mean it can't kill us" James said.

"Im more worried about the war back on earth" Ashley said as they got to a fence, part of it had been broken and they dropped to the area below "or the fact that no one here is reporting in"

"Fair enough" James replied as the looked around at the ground, a few bodies of marines lay near them along with a mantis sniper rifle "what's that?"

"I got a bad feeling, lets move" Jack said and they took off at a sprint towards the entrance to the base. Jack looked ahead and saw a group of men in unfamiliar armor; he held up his hand and ordered them to stop. The three got in to cover quickly; Ashley pulled her Valiant sniper rifle out and looked at the group of people.

"Holy shit they're executing them" James said quietly. Jack snarled as he recognized the logo on the people's armor.

"Cerberus" Jack hissed "Ashley, relive them of their heads"

"My pleasure" the female marine said. A second later a boom was heard and one of the white armored Cerberus troops fell to the ground, his head missing. Jack and James moved up, firing as they did forcing the troops in to cover.

"They know we are here now!" James said as he suppressed two of the troopers behind a truck. Jack popped his rifle from target to target as the stood up to try and return fire. The Cerberus troops didn't last long, if they stood up or moved they either got mowed down by James, punched in the chest by Jacks rifle or their heads erupted in gore from Ashley's sniping.

"Clear" James said and the once again begun to move up towards the base, carefully this time "they were Cerberus"

"With out a doubt" Jack growled as they moved, his rifle constantly watching for targets.

"What are they doing here on mars?" Ashley asked.

"Good question"

"you don't know?"

"Im not with them anymore ash" Jack said as he peeked around the back of a truck looking for more of the hostiles "if that's what you are asking"

"I wasn't wolf" Ashley said, she sneered the nickname somewhat "but you have to admit it's a bit convenient"

Jack moved up but some rounds pinged into the rock around him, he saw a couple of the troopers moving up to them. He leveled his rifle and fired two quick bursts in to the first mans chest. He dropped, blood bubbling out of the wounds. Jack ducked behind a crate, an assault trooper that didn't notice him ran by, he reached over and grabbed him pulling him over cover and slamming his Omni-blade through the mans face. The remaining troopers were dispatched quickly by the three marines, they moved into the entrance of the base. Jack activated the air lock door and keyed the elevator to start up. Ashley walked over sling her rifle up on her back to Jack; she looked at him from under her helmets visor.

"I need a straight answer Jack" Ashley said. Jack looked up at her curiously.

"about what?"

"Do you know anything about this? Why is Cerberus here?" Ashley asked.

"What makes you think I know what they are up to?" Jack said crossing his arms. Ashley walked over to the railing as the elevator moved upwards. She sighed before she started talking again.

"You worked for them" she said "how am I supposed to believe you cut all ties?"

"We joined forces to take down the collectors" Jack said walking over to his friend "that's it, nothing more"

"they rebuilt you from scratch" Ashley said as she looked away from Jack "they gave you a ship, resources"

"Let me be clear, ash" Jack said placing a hand on her shoulder "I have had no contact with them since I destroyed the collector base" Ash shrugged the hand off "I have no idea why they are here or what the fuck they want"

"commander Shepherd has been under constant surveillance since coming back to earth" James said walking over "there is no way they have communicated since"

Ashley stood up as the room hissed as it pressurized "Im sorry Shepherd, I just"

"I shouldn't have to explain this to you ash" Jack said as the elevator moved up the hanger door above them opened as they moved up. The platform looked in place and the three pulled off their helmets.

"Please ash, just trust me" Jack said as they walked into the motor pool for the base.

"I do" Ashley said "it's just that"

She was interrupted by a sound in the vent; the three marines took cover against a truck. They pulled their weapons out as they did waiting to see what was making the noise. There was more banging and then a few gun shots from the vent, the noises continued before the grate flew off and someone dropped out of it. Jack didn't notice as he backed into cover as more gunshots went off. The sound of a biotic attack and then screaming and a few gunshots reverberated through out the hanger; Jack raised an eyebrow and looked around the truck tire to see a blue asari. She stood holding a pistol over two dead troopers, she wore a white lab coat armor suit and Jack recognized her immediately. He threw his rifle down and ran over to her.

"Liara" Jack said happily, the asari turned to face him and smiled. Jack embraced her and lifted her in the air, he couldn't have been happier. Liara placed her hands on his face and she planted a kiss on his lips. The two stayed like that for a few seconds before breaking apart, Liara and Jacks foreheads meet. They stared into each others eyes; they shared a few moments of happiness.

"Shepherd, thank the goddess your alive" Liara said as Jack set her down.

"You to Liara" Jack said hugging her.

"I was so worried when the reports came in" Liara said "Im sorry about earth"

James cleared his throat drawing their attention to the other to people in the room. Ashley walked over to the two of them.

"Yeah" she said "it was hard to leave"

"Ashley, im sorry" Liara said "but why did you come here?"

"Hackett ordered us to come" Jack said as Liara walked over to where her pistol lay "Plus you were here and I was not leaving you in danger. He said you may know what's going on"

"I do" Liara said as she walked over to the window after picking up her pistol. James handed Jack his rifle and the walked over with her.

"Hallelujah, some answers finally" James said as the stood looking out the window.

"Maybe" Liara began "I have discovered data on a number of prothean projects. A Device, one that could help us wipe out the reapers, along with two other things"

"Which are?" Ashley asked her.

"Something they called the Vault and the Rings" Liara said.

"Here? On Mars?" Jack asked her excitedly.

"In the prothean archives, yes" Liara said looking out at the structure in the crater.

"We have known about the archives for decades" Jack said as he walked closer to her and looked out at the structure "why now?"

"Process of elimination, mixed with desperation" Liara said as she crossed her arms "When you destroyed the alpha relay, you were under investigation. I knew I had to do something. Hackett knew it, too. He contacted me, asking me to use my resources as the shadow broker to find a way to stop the reapers. My search lead me here, Hackett got me access to the archives and kept me update on your status. I meant to come see you but"

"I would have liked that, but under the circumstance" Jack said with a sly smile "I think I can forgive you"

"You're to kind" Liara said smiling back at him. Jack kissed her on the cheek, she blushed slightly. Liara was not used to him showing her affection in front of people, but it was also due to her natural shyness.

"In any case my work paid off" Liara said looking at the archives again "the archives are full of data. An overwhelming amount"

"I think I found what we need" Liara said looking up at Jack who was watching the tram way carefully.

"Ill believe it when I see it" Jack said "where do we find the weapon and the other things"

"its not a weapon yet, its plans for a device, a blue print" Liara said "and I was working on decoding the coordinates for the Vault and Rings when Cerberus attacked"

"It's more than we had a minute ago, how do we get the plans and coordinates?" Jack asked her.

"the archives are just across that Tram way" Liara said pointing at the tram "assuming Cerberus hasn't looked it down"

"What are the after?" Shepherd asked Liara.

"Yeah, they seem hell bent on catching you" James said. A scowl crossed Jacks face, and he crossed his arms.

"They want what I'm here for" Liara said looking at the tram "what we are all here for"

"they should be glad they didn't catch you, but why are they here?" Jack said asked.

"The preotheons came close to defeating the reapers" Liara said "They had plans to destroy them but they ran out of time"

"And anything powerful enough to destroy the reapers" Ashley said but Jack finished for her "just might be something Cerberus might be interested in along with what ever the vault is"

"So it's a race to the archives" James said. A boom rocked the room and the noise of a cutting torch reached the groups ears, Jack looked up at the door.

"We got company" Jack said.

"Bring it on" James said as he pulled his rifle out.

"not this time James" Jack said.

"What?" James asked shocked.

"Get back to the shuttle" Jack said running over to the elevator consol "if Cerberus beats us to the archives, I need you covering the exits"

"But" James protested.

"Now, Lieutenant" Jack said keying the elevator to start.

"they're getting closer" Ashley said getting behind a crate "we should take cover"

The door on the balcony opened up and the troopers ran out, yelling that they had found her while they did.

"Looks like they found us" Liara said as Jack took cover behind a truck next to Liara.

"There is the asari bitch" one of the men said but before he could speak again Jack put a burst through the mans head. Liara sent a singularity into the group of troopers; two of them got caught in it and were pulled out of cover. Ashley and Liara put rounds into the two troopers. The other three were put down quickly by Jacks rifle. With the troopers dead the three tried the elevator but Cerberus had damaged it. They used a service lift to jump over to the balcony and head deeper into the facility. They moved through the door that the troopers from earlier had moved in from. They dispatched them quickly and kept moving the troopers didn't stand a chance against them. Jack saw a security station around the corner after they exited a hallway that now held six dead Cerberus troopers. Jack looked at one of the consoles and tried to see if he could work it.

"Wolf, see if you can get access to the pedway" Liara said as she sat down at another consol and started to work on it "I can't seem to unlock the live feeds but"

"hey did you see that?" Ashley said interrupting her "who is that women in the vid?"

"That's doctor Eva Core" Liara said looking at the screen "she got her a week ago" Liara walked over to Jack "Any Luck?"

"Pedway has been locked out" Jack said "damn"

"Alright, looks like there is construction nearby" Liara said keying something on the terminal "we can get on the roof, we can find a way around from there"

"Great, lets move" Jack said as he lead them from the security station. The inner door opened and the group stepped inside, Jack and Ashley put there helmets on while Liara donned her breathing mask. They walked out onto the roof; Jack could see the storm getting closer.

"Storms getting closer" Ashley said as Jack stepped down the ladder. Jack looked up at the tram way when he hit the platform below the ladder "What the hell?"

"Looks like the alliance is still putting up a fight" Jack said. As he lead them down the steel walkway towards a ladder.

"That tram leads to the archives" Liara said "Once Cerberus is across then they are at the last security checkpoint"

"Commander, can you hear me?" James asked through the static in the comm. line.

"Barely, the storm is causing interference" Jack said as he waited for Liara and Ashley climbed up a leader that was at the end of the platform.

"Tell me about it, I've lost contact with the Normandy" James said "what's your…"

"I couldn't read that, James repeat" Jack said.

"I said" but the transmission was lost in the static.

"Fuck" Jack exclaimed as he jumped a gap and meet up with Liara and Ashley.

"that storms going to be in here very soon" Ashley said. Liara looked at the airlock puzzled.

"This airlock shouldn't be open" Liara said as jack stepped into it.

"Doesn't look like it was forced" Ashley said as she turned her flashlight on along with the other two.

"No, you have to override security protocols" Liara said as they slowly walked down the ramp in the darkened facility. Jack rounded a corner in to the room, his light landed on a body on the floor.

"someone vent the air from the room while they were still in here" Liara said disgusted.

"looks like they died trying to claw their way out" Ashley said

"this is brutal even by Cerberus standards" Liara said as they walked into the room. The sound off the shutters opening drew Jacks attention.

"Flashlights" He said as he switched his off, the other two did the same thing. On the other side of the glass Jack could see four troopers, they were talking but Jack didn't pay attention.

"Ashley, you take the two on the right" Jack said "Liara, center left, I got the far left one"

The four aimed their weapons, Jack pulled the trigger and the four troopers were quickly dispatched as rounds tore through them. Jack walled over to the broken glass and hopped over the short wall and into another wing. A security station was to his right and he headed over, inside was a dead marine and the environmental control terminal. Liara followed Jack in and started to work the consol.

"We need to pressurize the room first" Liara said as she activated the controls. The room pressurized with a hiss and she stood up from the consol "there we go, we have access to the labs now. They'll take us right to the tram station"

Jack pulled his helmet off along with Liara who pulled her mask off. Ashley pointed to a screen.

"Looks like there is a recording of what happened here"

Jack hit the play button and the recording started. The scene played out with a marine asking something from and explained that the security protocols had kicked in. Eva core walked in and then shoot both of the marines in the back of the head. The rest of it played out in horror as the doctor vented the air from the room.

"Well, guess we know how Cerberus got in" Jack said.

"I should have realized it when I met her" Liara said judging herself "I was just so focused on finding away to stop the reapers"

"Stopping the reapers is the only thing we should be focused on" Jack said walking over to her where she had rested her hands on the desk in the room "Its not your fault"

"But what if we're wrong? What if there is no way to stop them?" Liara said sadly "what if these are our last days and we spend them scurrying around trying to solve a problem we cant fix?"

"Angel" Jack whispered using his private nickname for her, she turned to face him.

"I know, I shouldn't think that way. I don't know how you do it; you always stay focused, even in the worst of circumstances"

"When there is so much at stake, I think about my friends" Jack said before reaching out and placing a hand on her cheek "the one I would lose if we fail"

Liara looked up at him and smiled, it was a small smile but it made Jack smile back at her.

"Me too" Liara said. Jack took her hands and looked her in her bright, azure eyes.

"we'll stop them together, Liara, together" Jack said.

"I believe you" Liara said back "or I believe that you believe, maybe that's enough"

Jack gave her a quick kissed before she turned to the consol and keyed the door at the end of the room to open.

"okay, doors open" Liara said "we can get to the Lab and tram station through there"

"Good, lets move" Jack said leading the two women towards the door. They moved through a room with crates and up a stair case, there were Cerberus troops in the next hall. Jack leveled his rifle and let lose as he ran to a pillar and took cover. A trooper moved behind cover as rounds from Liara's pistol pinged of it. She dove down as a trooper popped out and swung a shock bar at her. Jack tackled the man and drove his Omni-blade through the mans chest. Ashley snipped a trooper that was about to shoot shepherd. Jack pulled Liara behind cover and started to fire back at the troopers.

"Liara use a singularity!" Jack yelled over the gunfire. Liara rolled out into the hall and quickly sent the biotic vortex into the middle of the group of soldiers. Before her barriers dropped she rolled back into cover. The group then made short work of the troopers and kept moving. They ran into more in the hallway that had the labs off of it, and some carried shields. Liara used her biotics to rip one of the troopers shields away shattering his arm, Jack fired a burst into his chest as Liara sent the shield flying into a missile that struck a man in the face killing him. The troopers were no match for the three and they made quick work of them before moving into the last lab section.

"What's that smell?" Ashley asked.

"They just deactivated the decontamination protocols" Liara said.

"With the staff still inside" Ashley said. Jack turned the rays of and the door opened. They walked into the lab, it smelled disgusting.

"this is were they would study the artifacts from earth" Liara said as she looked at something on one of the study tables.

"What did they find?" Jack asked as he walked over to the door.

"More than I can describe in a short conversation" Liara replied "and they only scratched the surface, there are vaults filled with prothean data troves that has never been studied"

The three people walked from the room into more hallways, Liara pointed down the hall.

"That's the tram line, take us right to the archives" Liara said "no doubt Cerberus has it locked down but hopefully we can override it at the security station"

They moved through the halls and came to the door to the tram station; Jack opened it to see a auto heavy turret at the other side.

"Move!" Jack yelled as he dove into cover. The three moved up using cover, they leapt from cover to cover using it to stop them form becoming mincemeat. Once they got out of its sight they stormed into the security station and dispatched the Cerberus troops quickly. Jack walked over to the control terminal and turned the turret off, Liara and Ashley walked over and looked up at the screens. They watched as Eva walked up to a group of troopers and scolded them, telling them that no one else is to come across. She then shoot the cameras and they lost the vid, shepherd scoffed.

"Looks like they made it to the archives" Liara said.

"And it looks like they wont be sending a tram anytime soon" Ashley said checking her rifle.  
>"can you over ride it?" Jack asked Liara. Liara tried quickly but the consol just beeped at her, she shook her head in annoyance.<p>

"the archives are on a completely separate network, we are completely locked out"

"Not completely, what if we find a short range transmitter" Ashley said walking to a doorway out of the room "helmet to helmet"

"And?" Jack inquired.

"We convince them that we're with them and the alliance forces have been taken care of" Ashley said.

"good idea, see what you can find" Jack said. Ashley nodded and walked out of the room, the commander walked over to where Liara had sat down at the terminal bank.

"What?" Jack asked.

"The lieutenant commander has become very capable" She said, her voice portrayed a light bit of jealous. Jack leaned on the terminal next to her and looked at her.

"Agreed but she is just a friends Liara" Jack said before placing a kiss on her forehead "you're my girl though, and that will never change"

Liara smiled at him and tried to see what she could do on the terminal.

"Commander I found something" Ashley called. Jack walked over to the door and hit the open button. He walked over to where Ashley was knelt by a dead Cerberus trooper.

"What you got?" Jack asked.

"He's got a transmitter in his helmet, if I can" Ashley began but made a disgusted noise as the helmets mask slide open. The mans face had reaper tech on it and he resembled a husk. Ashley stood up looking at the man in shock and disgust.

"Oh god, he looks like a husk" Ashley said as Jack moved over and examined the man closer.

"Yeah not quite, but the have defiantly done something to him" Jack said as he examined the mans face. His eyes had been replaced by reaper tech and his skin was paling.

"Cerberus rebuilt you commander" Ashley said "how do I know that they didn't do that to you?" she exclaimed pointing at the Cerberus trooper.

"Ash, the restored me one hundred percent, Jack shepherd, my implants made it possible and Miranda was still studying their effects over a long term" Jack pointed at the trooper "but I am not that"

"Okay, okay" Ashley said "its just tough commander"

"I know, we will get through this" Jack said placing a hand on her shoulder "as friends"

Jack put the mic that he had pulled from the dead mans helmet and placed it in his ear. He pressed the activation key.

"Hello, this uh Delta team"

"Where the hell have you been?"

"we have finished the alliance forces off, send the tram over for us"

"Roger that, nice work" the Cerberus trooper said on the other side "Gamma team will ride over to meet you"

Jack tossed the radio away and the team walked back out into the tram station. Jack directed Liara and Ashley to flank the tram. Jack took cover at the top of a staircase that lead to the main floor of the tram station. The tram lumbered into the station, the glass panels dropped and the troopers walked out.

"Hello?" one of the troopers said before a singularity hit the middle of the group. Jack tossed a grenade into the singularity, the remaining troopers ran for cover and a few made it. Jack stormed down the staircase, firing his rifle at a trooper how popped up causing him to duck back down into cover. Ashley tossed a grenade into the tram, the explosion sent bodies flying out. Jack leapt into the tram, body parts littered the area, and it was a mess.

"Clear, every one aboard" Jack yelled out to his squad. Ashley and Liara jumped onto the tram and Shepherd fired the car up. The car rumbled down the tramway at a slow speed, at least the tramway was pressurized as well so they didn't have to put their helmets on. They speed along for awhile, until the tram car hit a bomb and the car grinded to stop. Liara almost fell over the edge but Jack caught her around her waist and pulled her back into the tram car.

"gotcha" Jack said as he pulled her away from the edge. Another tram rumbled at them, it had a group of troopers in it and they started to fire at the three in the tram. They quickly got into cover and did their best to return fire.

"Ashley, toss'em on my mark" Jack said as he pulled out two grenades, he handed on to Liara "mark"

The three explosives soared into the tram car with the troopers and exploded, the troopers were reduced to pulp. The three jumped across to the tram and started it up once again continuing to the archives.

"Based on the resistance we are getting from Cerberus, I believe they have found what they came for" Liara said as they lumbered along.

"Yeah, all the more reason to go faster" Ashley said.

"Im trying but this thing wasn't built to win a race, Ash" Jack said from the control consol. The tram rolled into the tram station on the archives side, the door dropped on it and the team stormed out into the stations. The Cerberus troops were ready for them, an intense fire fight began. Jack ran into a pit that was in the center of the room and fired at three troopers that moved up from the right side of the security booth. Jack dropped them quickly and moved up tossing a grenade into the security booth, the centurion inside jumped out Jack activated his Omni blade and smashed it in to the mans spine ending him. Liara and Ashley mopped up the rest of the troops quickly and they moved into the archives.

"Ash, check the perimeter" Jack said as him and Liara ran up to the archives terminals. Liara started to work on the terminal but the sound of a hologram flickering drew Jacks attention and he turned to see the illusive man standing on a hologram pad.

"Shepherd"

Liara whipped around and aimed a pistol directly at the holograms head; the illusive man raised an eyebrow at her.

"Illusive man" Liara said as she held her pistol leveled at him, she slowly let it down and stored it on her hip.

"fascinating race the protheans, they left all this for us to discover" he said "and we squandered it. The alliance has known about the archives for thirty years and what have they done with it"

"What the flying fuck do you want?" Jack snapped at him.

"I see that your language is as colorful as ever shepherd" The illusive man said "what I want is what I have always wanted. The data in these archives holds the key to solving the reaper threat"

"I have seen your solution" Jack said angrily "you turned your people into monsters"

"Hardly, they have been improved"

"improved, not unlike yourself" the illusive man said.

"Me?" Jack asked.

"Yes, when we brought you back the implants we used improved you. you heal faster, move faster, are stronger, and will live long enough to die with your beloved asari" the illusive man said "I expected more gratitude than this shepherd"

"Thanks for that but if your trying to win me over you failed" Jack said.

"I wasn't trying as you are to naïve and take with aliens to understand what separates us" illusive man said "Where you see the reapers as a mission to destroy I see a means to control, to harness the reapers power. Imagine who strong humanity would be if we controlled them"

"Got to hell fucker" Jack said stepping forward yelling at him as he did "ill send you there myself"

"I don't expect you to understand Jack" the illusive man said leaning back crossing his arms "and I'm certainty not looking for your approval" He took a draw on his cigarette "you were a tool, an agent with a singular purpose and despite our differences you were relatively successful. But like the rest of the relics in this place, your time is over"

"Enough talk, Liara" Jack said and she went back to the consol to start working again.

"Don't interfere with my plans, Jack" Illusive man said as he pointed at him "I wont warn you again"

"Duly noted, now fuck off and drop the Jack crap"

"Shepherd!" Liara yelled drawing his attention.

"What?" Jack asked her walking over.

"the data, its not here" Liara said looking up at him with a defeated look "its being erased"

"damn it, how's he doing it?" Jack asked her.

"Its local" She said looking back at the consol "someone is uploading the information"

Ashley walked over to a booth and looked in. She saw the doctor in the booth working at a terminal; Ashley aimed her rifle at the doctor.

"don't move" She said but the doctor did indeed move. Eva whipped around knocking the marine down and took off at a sprint.

"Jack!" Ashley yelled. Jack looked up and sprinted off after the doctor, Liara close behind him as he did. They ran through the archives chasing her as they did through the security station, she closed the door and the other doors around them blocking them out. Jack opened the door up and rolled forward as a tech incineration flew over his head. Eva jumped in the vents and was on the other side of the station in a few seconds. Jack opened the shutters and the chase was once again in hot pursuit as they tore through the security station and up a ladder and on to the roof. Jack pulled his helmet on as he ran quickly so he could breath. As he gave chase a Cerberus shuttle flew by and the troops begin to fire on him as he ran. Jack kept running and followed her into a tunnel of some kind; he called James over the comm. line.

"James can you hear me?" he yelled over the howling wind, he didn't hear anything but static "Cerberus has the data!" they rounded a corner and Jack stopped him self from falling over the ledge. Eva ran up a ramp towards a ladder and started up, Jack was right on her heels. She kicked them as they climbed up the ladder. They reached the top of the ladder and Eva sprinted ahead as a shuttle soared in to pick her up.

"She's getting away!" Shepherd yelled as he fired his rifle as fast as he could at her. She leapt in to the shuttle just as Shepherd reached the edge.

"Fuck! James, Normandy? Anybody?" Shepherd yelled. Just as the Cerberus craft was beginning to leave the Normandy's shuttle soared in and crashed into the other shuttle. The alliance craft limped of but the Cerberus one crashed onto the roof in front of Jack just as Liara and Ashley ran up. The three had to dive to avoid being crushed, the shuttle slammed into the roof. The craft was racked by explosions and Jack had to duck his head down to avoid the debris. Jack stood up and offered Ashley a hand but she waved him off. Jack waved to James and the shuttle came and set down between Jack and the other two quite ungracefully. Jack walked over to the hatch and James stepped out looking at the commander.

"Normandy is en route, they will be here soon" James said rolling his shoulders. Ashley helped Liara to her feet on helped her towards the shuttle.

"We need the data" Liara said as they hobbled toward the shuttle. A sound of banging in the crashed craft drew their attention, Eva stood up. She was a robot of some kind and was glaring at the two. Ashley pushed Liara away and aimed her pistol at the robot as it charged at her. Eva knocked the pistol away and grabbed Ashley by her helmet and hosted her in the air. Jack ran around the shuttle as he drew his pistol, James was in tow. "Ash!" Jack yelled as he saw what was happening, he aimed his pistol at the robotic thing "Let her go"

"orders?" the robot said before she took ash and began to smash her against the shuttles hull. Shepherd watched in horror as the robot dropped Ashley and then turned to face him. She charged him, Jack let lose with his pistol the rounds impacted the robot and after a few hits it dropped to the ground.

"Grab that thing bring it with us" Jack told James as he ran over to Ashley. He could hear Joker yelling at him over the comms to hurry up.

"Ash, come on Ash" Jack said as James walked over with the robot over one shoulder "we are getting you out of here"

Jack helped James get Ashley over his other shoulder, James walked over the edge to wait for the Normandy to come in. Jack ran over to where Liara was trying to get up, but her right leg was banged up slightly.

"you okay?" Jack asked her.

"Im fine, how is Ashley?" Liara asked as Jack placed his hands under her and picked her up. She through her arms around his neck to hang on as her lover picked her up.

"I don't know, we will find out but first we need to get on the Normandy" Jack said worriedly. The Normandy flew in with the hanger door and the two large marines carried the wounded on to the ramp. Jack looked out at the Martian landscape as reapers descended onto it. He looked away and then walked the rest of the way into the into the hanger as the door closed behind him.

"Jack you can put me down now, I can walk" Liara said. Jack nodded and set her down so she could walk. James let the robot slide of his shoulder and it fell at the feet of two marines.

"Take care of this puta" James said as they walked into the elevator, Jack hit the key for the crew deck and when the elevator arrived James and Jack ran into the Med bay. Shepherd tossed his helmet off as James set Ashley down on the med bay exam table. Jack pulled her table off and set it down nearby; Liara limped over and looked down at her. Jack looked defeated as he saw how bad it was, Liara's voice drew his attention back to the world.

"Ashley needs medical attention" Liara said placing her face in shepherds view "We have to leave the sol system"

"I know" Jack said coldly.

"the citadel is our best bet" Liara said straightening up "we can get help there"

"Get us to the citadel joker" Jack said.

"Roger that" Joker said as he started to punch the coordinates in.

"EDI, Liara" Jack said "see what you can learn from the thing we found"

"Ok wolf" Liara said and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. She headed out of the med bay and down to the shuttle bay. Jack looked down at his friend and shook his head, he sighed _I cant lose another one_ he thought to himself.

"Commander, im receiving a transmission over the secondary QEC, I believe it is admiral Hackett"

"Patch me through" Shepherd said and ran to the comm. room. After a quick elevator ride and sprint he stopped in the small room that housed the QEC pads. He could hear some garbled transmissions and told EDI to clean it up. Admiral Hackett materialized on the pad in front of him.

"Did you get to the archives?" Hackett asked him.

"I was there, so was the Illusive man" Jack said sighing. Hackett placed his hand on his chin stroking his goatee, something is quite well known for.

"I was worried Cerberus might try something" Hackett said "Did you get the data?"

"Most of it" Jack said as Liara walked in "He downloaded some before I could stop him. Edi and Liara are working on what we recovered"

Liara did her best to stand but her leg was in pain and she stumbled a bit. Jack caught her and helped her stay upright.

"What have you learned? Was it worth the Effort?" Hackett asked.

"Preliminary evidence suggest the data is a blueprint for a prothean device along with coordinates for something they call the Vault and reference two other things" Liara said.

"Device?" Hackett asked. Liara waved her Omni tool and the blueprint popped up over the terminal.

"A weapon, massive in size and scope" Liara said proudly "Capable of unimaginable levels of destruction"

"and the others?" Hackett asked her.

"The vault is a prothean, well, vault and the other two are something called the ring and mentions of what they call Valkyrie" Liara said.

"Send me that data; we will do our own analysis" Hackett said standing at parade rest "if Liara's instincts are right this data is the key to stopping the reapers"

"I hope so" Jack said looking at him "Ash got hurt; we are taking her to the citadel"

"Sorry to hear that Jack, but we both knew this was just the beginning" Hackett said "Talk to the council, show them what you found. With luck, they'll give you all the support we need"

"and if they don't?" Jack asked.

"Do whatever I takes to get their support" Hackett said.

"Yes sir" Jack said.

"Ill be in touch soon, Hackett out"

Jack and Liara hobbled into the war room, Jack helping Liara to stay off her bummed ankle. Liara looked up at him, concerned.

"Wolf?" Liara whispered to him "Edi is extracting Data from the Cerberus machine; We'll have details to present to the council by the time we reach the citadel"

"And Ash?"

"I have done what I can, but she need proper medical attention" Liara said as Jack helped her sit down on the war rooms display consol.

"The admiral is right; its going to get worse is isn't it?" Liara said looking up at him. Jack nodded and looked in her eyes.

"Yes" Jack said "I just don't want to lose a friend, I don't want to lose you"

"Wolf" Liara said placing a hand on his face "I am not going anywhere"

Jack placed his hand over hears, he closed his eyes at her touch. He opened his eyes and looked at her, tears could be seen.

"The weapon will work, I just know it" Liara said "you taught me to believe again"

Jack smile at her briefly "and once we decode the rest we will have what we need to win"

"Ok" Jack said as he picked Liara up.

"Wolf, I don't need carried" Liara said as she hooked her arms around his neck.

"You need to stay off that Ankle" Jack said as he walked from the war room "besides, I haven't gotten to hold you close in weeks"

Liara smiled up at him as he carried her into the elevator. He hit the button for his cabin; the elevator car rose up and headed towards the top of the ship. The doors of the elevator opened up, the darkened hallway was short and Jack quickly carried Liara into the cabin. The lights came on and he set her down on the couch that was on the other side of his office space. He looked around the room; he cracked a slight smile as he saw the familiar surroundings.

"Jack, Anderson was going to use the Normandy as his personal command ship" Liara said "he had me set up quarters in Lawson's old room"

"Well that was Anderson" Jack said as he started to pop the seals on his armor "you can stay in my cabin with me, use the place as your office"

Liara smiled as she shook her head, she placed her banged up ankle on the table in front of her. Jack pulled his gauntlets off and let them fall to the floor, his armor slowly fell apart and he stood in the jumpsuit that was worn underneath.

"Lets take a look at that ankle" Jack said and walked over to the table. Liara looked away as Jack pulled her boot off and pushed the material out of the way. Her skins normal blue was broken by a large patch of dark purple around her ankle; Jack ran his hand over it causing her to hiss in pain. Jack sighed as he stood up and started to walk over to a fridge unit that was in his office.

"What are you getting?" Liara asked him as he ducked under the glass of the model case, she couldn't see him.

"Ice" Jack said "for your ankle"

"Oh" Liara said as she looked back and examined the cabin, she didn't see many of the items that Jack had kept when he was in command of the Normandy "I don't have anything up hear, all my stuff was stored in my quarters below"

"We can get your stuff and bring it up later" Jack said as he came back around with a bag of ice in his hand, he set it on the bruised skin of her ankle. Liara winced at first but eventually the ice began to numb the pain in her ankle, she leaned back in the couch. Jack sat down next to her and she leaned into him, he put his arm around her shoulder and sighed.

"Commander" Joker said over the speaker.

"Go ahead Joker" Jack said rubbing his head with his right hand.

"Ashley has been stabile in the med bay" Joker said "we are about two hours out from the citadel"

"Thanks Joker, that's some good news at least" Jack said.

"Ash is tough commander, she will pull through"

Jack nodded and looked down at Liara who's eyes were closed as she lay against his chest.

"Liara?" Jack whispered she didn't stir "angel?"

"Yes wolf?" Liara said silently, her eyes still closed.

"We got two hours" Jack said. She looked up at him, her eyes questioning him "not right now, lets just sleep but the beds more comfortable"

Liara nodded and raised up off Jacks chest, the alliance marine stood up picked her up and carried her over to the bed. She sat on the edge and pulled her armor off till she sat in her underclothes, she looked behind her and saw Jack pull the under armor jump suit off. Her eyes widened as she saw the ink in his skin that covered his left arm. She looked back and pulled her last bit of the armor off. She felt Jacks arm wrap around her belly, he kissed the back of the her neck. She closed her eyes as he did; she looked down and saw the black ink in his skin.

'Jack when did you get this?" She asked as she ran her hand over the tattoo.

"the night after I got relived of duty, turns out alcohol, anger and bad judgment don't mix well" Jack said as he pulled her onto the bed, she still sat up looking at the tattoo "I had this exact same tattoo when I was younger, I had to get it removed to enter the alliance"

Liara ran her hands over the lines of the black designs, her hand rested on his chest over the wolf that was in the open space over his heart. She looked down at it; the wolf looked up at her seeming to look right into her soul.

"Wolf" Liara said smiling as she looked from the tattoo into Jacks eyes. Jack ran his hand along her cheek and pulled her in for a kiss. The two's lips meet, for a moment the reapers, Ashley's injuries, everything melted away in that one moment. The two broke apart and Jack pulled his lover down onto his chest, she rested her head contently on his chest.

"Despite everything that has happened today, there was one good thing" Jack said as he hugged Liara tighter to him "I found you"


End file.
